The silence grew uncomfortable; the young woman remained blushing, and McGonagall couldn't find words in the face of her former student's attitude.
"You… didn't come looking for us, did you?" the girl asked, her voice tinged with fear.
Upon hearing that the professor hadn't come for the "services", her first thought was that the kind yet strict woman had shown up to scold them. And even though they were adults now, the respect —and fear— toward McGonagall still lingered among many graduates.
"Looking for us?" she repeated, raising a worried eyebrow. "Are there more of you besides yourself?"
"Well…" Sullivan realized she had slipped up, but she couldn't lie either. Like her, others had come to see that place as their home —without regret. "There are several former students, though most of them got work 'inside the rooms'…" she added, embarrassed by her own limited sexual skills, though deep down, grateful for it.
"Why? How many? How?" McGonagall asked, feeling her heart tighten at the thought of so many of her former students ending up there.
"I don't really know how many. I recognized five or six, but I heard there could be more… Of the ones I know, some came out of necessity and stayed because of how they were treated. I even think a couple of them genuinely wanted a life like this from the start…" the young woman answered thoughtfully.
Minerva's face tensed. She didn't know who to be angrier with —her students, herself for not guiding them better, the Ministry for allowing such things, or society itself for pushing promising young people into such degrading fates. Finally, she chose to restrain herself. The girl before her was yet another victim. She would report the place to the Ministry, yes, but she also thought about asking Dumbledore for help —she couldn't allow her students to be dragged into corruption.
"Then, Professor… if it's your first time here, I suppose you don't know how this works. Do you want me to guide you? What are you looking for?" the girl asked, trying to ease the tension when she noticed her former teacher's pitying look. "Would you like a recommendation? I use the place's services myself when I need to —with the employee discount, I don't spend much… Don't feel embarrassed, everyone needs a little help now and then."
"I'm not here for that," McGonagall repeated, a twitch forming in her eyebrow. The implication that she was there for 'fun' offended her… though her body seemed to have other opinions. "I came to buy libido inhibitors."
"You're going to put libido inhibitors in the Hogwarts food so the students won't shag?" The girl's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth as if she had uncovered a conspiracy.
"How could you even—?!" McGonagall's severe look was enough to make the receptionist tremble. "They're for… a friend," she added awkwardly. She had no choice but to say it if she wanted to stop the girl's imagination from running wild. "Do you have them or not?"
"Alright, sorry… And yes, we have them —the best you can find. Your 'friend' can rest easy," she replied with a complicit wink, though she quickly corrected herself when faced again with that piercing stare.
"Can you give them to me?" Minerva asked, already regretting coming. She only wanted the inhibitor and to leave —then report everything to Dumbledore.
"Yes… I mean, no." (Sullivan)
"Yes or no?" (McGonagall)
"We have the inhibitors, just not here," she clarified quickly. "You probably don't know how this place works —it's your first time. Did you notice how empty it is? That's because I'm the only one here."
"Yes… I noticed. I expected something a bit more… lively," she said, glancing around with disdain, though also curious. "Don't you work on Valentine's Day?"
"Of course we do —it's actually a good day for business. But our brothel isn't static. Like this one, there are other branches, and each day, only a few of them open. The rest, like now, become an intermediate passage —a checkpoint you must go through before reaching the main establishment of the day. It's a safety measure: that way, we can close off the routes if problems suddenly arise," she explained.
McGonagall listened with interest, though uneasily. She now understood how they managed to stay open without being shut down —a tedious but efficient system. And that was what worried her most. Worse than crime itself was organized crime… far harder to root out.
"So then…" McGonagall began, unsure how to continue.
"Just go through that door over there," the girl said, pointing to a door not far from the counter. "You'll reach the main establishment. There, you can buy whatever you need and…" she stopped herself just in time, avoiding any mention of services. "You're lucky —today's establishment is in Hogsmeade, so it'll be close to Hogwarts for your return."
"An establishment in Hogsmeade?" Minerva repeated, surprised. She couldn't believe a brothel could expand into a place like that without anyone noticing.
"Yes, and don't worry. By using the card at the door, you're already registered as the prize winner, so you'll be able to claim it without any problem," the receptionist added with a proud smile.
McGonagall forced a strained smile, wishing to be done with the whole thing. She stepped toward the door, opened it, and saw a completely different environment on the other side. Swallowing hard, she crossed the threshold —and the door shut automatically behind her.
The young receptionist let out a sigh of relief, though she kept her eyes on the door for a few more seconds. It had been hard to talk to her former teacher, especially while secretly sending a [Message] to the brothel's owner, informing her of the arrival of an important guest —just as she'd been trained to do. She knew how to fulfill that duty discreetly, as any good receptionist should. She was convinced she'd receive a bonus: McGonagall was far too significant a visitor for her boss to ignore without a reward.
...
McGonagall appeared in what seemed to be a cabin in Hogsmeade. This place did have windows and was well-lit; the decor was halfway between a business and an abandoned home… with a faint touch of a Viking hall —everything made of wood. To her right was the exit leading to the village, behind her the door she had entered through, in front a counter, and to her left several doors, hallways, and staircases.
"Welcome, Professor McGonagall," said another receptionist, bowing respectfully. "Our mistress is already on her way. Please, have a seat and wait."
McGonagall felt uneasy upon hearing that. The place had an odd atmosphere, as if her arrival had been expected. She didn't like it one bit.
"There's no need. I only want to buy some libido inhibitors," she said quickly, hoping to leave as soon as possible. Though she was embarrassed, she intended to bring them to Snape for analysis. Perhaps she should have just gone to him directly for a potion —but her pride… and Pomona's insistence when giving her the card had stopped her. Now, she was beginning to regret it.
"Very well, but I still ask that you wait. Our mistress wishes to see you," replied the receptionist, handing her what looked like a restaurant menu —though it was actually a product list. "Here are our potions and recreational substances. Please choose whichever suits you best."
"I only want libido inhibitors," Minerva clarified, on the verge of turning around.
"I know, but we have different types and forms. Slide your finger left to right over the name for more details, the opposite way to go back. Up and down lets you scroll through the list. You can explore the rest on your own or ask for help," the receptionist explained calmly, as if reciting from a rehearsed script.
McGonagall felt a twinge of curiosity after hearing the explanation and gave the product list a brief glance. That was enough to surprise her —the device was an impressive piece of alchemical craftsmanship, so polished and functional that she ended up examining it longer than she had intended.
The frame was made of durable, elegant material; the font was clear, with a simple yet appealing design; some products even displayed glowing visual effects when on sale. That was just the surface. Exploring further, she discovered advanced features: a precise search bar, a shopping cart that automatically calculated totals, filters by category, warnings about dangerous potion interactions, usage tips, customer reviews… even options to schedule the date, time, and place for delivery. All integrated into a touch interface as intuitive as it was practical.
For a moment, Minerva forgot what she had come to buy. This technology could revolutionize any magical business —from an apothecary to a wand shop. But instead of being in the hands of a respectable merchant, it was in a brothel. Worse still, it wasn't a one-of-a-kind prototype —the receptionist had taken it from a drawer full of identical devices. Meaning this was just another detail in this unsettlingly sophisticated place.
Returning to her goal, she searched for libido inhibitors. The variety made her uncomfortable: formulas lasting only a few hours, others suppressing desire for an entire month; some with extravagant additives, others with odd flavors or ingestion methods. Among so many options, she chose the simplest —a one-month inhibitor, free of additional side effects.
The price wasn't outrageous, but it still pained her to spend money on something like that. She added three units to the cart —enough to test them first, and, if they proved safe, store the rest for later use. Deep down, she suspected there would be no flaws —this establishment was far too professional.
"Wouldn't you like to take anything else?" the receptionist asked persuasively. "Your prize has a much higher value; you could make up the difference with other products. I doubt you'd want the 'Cursed Golden Dildo'…" she said casually, pointing to a shelf where a massive golden dildo rested, covered in red runes that flickered softly. A sign labeled it as the Grand Valentine's Day Prize. "If you don't want it, we can refund its value in merchandise."
McGonagall's expression froze as she stared at the grotesque object —so large it could stretch from her elbow to her palm, and so thick she doubted any decent woman could even use it. On one hand, she appreciated the establishment's courtesy in offering a replacement; on the other, she was indignant that it was considered normal here to reward someone with such a… contraption.
"I figured you wouldn't want it. You never struck me as that kind of woman when you taught me," the receptionist remarked, amused by her former teacher's discomfort.
"You were my student?" McGonagall asked, realizing the face looked faintly familiar.
"Francine Lowther, Hufflepuff," she replied with a slight bow. "About twelve years ago. I left school in fifth year, after a werewolf attacked me… and infected me."
"Lowther… yes, I remember you," Minerva said, the image of the shy girl now overlapping with the grown woman before her. Her heart ached —another name to add to the list of former students who had ended up working there. "You too…?"
"Yes, I work here," Francine confirmed without hesitation. "Things have improved for werewolves lately, and the owner of this place has ties to our benefactor. Thanks to that, it was easy to get a job here."
McGonagall sighed bitterly. Once again, reality showed her that Hogwarts had left many of its students adrift.
"I suppose it's not that strange," Francine added calmly. "After all, Hogwarts is the only school of magic in Britain. It's only natural that most of this place's employees once studied there."
Minerva couldn't help but feel a wave of doubt and shame. In a way, the girl was right —almost every witch and wizard in magical Britain had attended Hogwarts. So it was just as normal for this brothel to be filled with her former students… as it was for all of Azkaban's prisoners to be former students as well.
---///---
Hey, everyone!
I'm back with an update—I have two pieces of news, one great and one not so great.
The great news is: I passed my thesis! (Happy dance noises!)
The not-so-great news is: my computer is currently out of order... (Sad and gloomy sounds)
I'm working with a laptop that shuts down if you look at it wrong, so I'm doing the best I can. Until I can fix my main PC, I probably won't be able to put out as many chapters as before, but I'll try to do what I can. I really don't want to let you down. I appreciate you all and all the support you've given me. As soon as I get a fully working computer, I'll get things back to normal!
Sorry in advance if the chapter quality or quantity isn't ideal.